Revolutionizing student achievement

PeopleAdmin has acquired TeacherMatch, a recognized talent management leader and innovator in teacher effectiveness and student achievement for K-12.

Why should this matter to higher education? Because it could change its future.

PeopleAdmin is the only company focused on K-20 education talent management. We have demonstrated our ability to stay on the leading edge of technology by leveraging the “best of the best” in higher education or K-12 to the benefit of all our customers. We can adapt proven technology developed for the K-12 market, for instance, for our higher education customers so you can reap the benefits of some of the most innovative solutions available in education today.

Two good examples of that are our new Records and Onboard solutions, which we launched last month as part of our most innovative round of SelectSuite solution enhancements and improvements in years.

These are extraordinary times for education, and we feel fortunate to play a lead role in helping colleges and universities adopt new technology to advance their human resources practices and academic missions.

The promise of analytics: Spend less time identifying areas for improvement … and more time improving them

Colleges and universities often want more data to make better business decisions, but once they get it, do they know how to best use it?

Analyzing data to uncover truths and inform decisions is a cornerstone of higher education. HR departments, however, often struggle to aggregate and analyze data efficiently and effectively enough to guide process improvements.

The University of Arkansas (U of A) has worked for years to overcome these challenges and recently began using PeopleAdmin’s SelectSuite Analytics solution to determine if technology can solve its data woes once and for all.

“It’s just so amazing to have the data right there at your fingertips, where you don’t have to go and spend three weeks massaging it to get it in a presentable format,” said Shannon Phillips, compensation analyst at U of A.

The university is now able to quickly access the information needed to make strategic decisions about hiring trends, diversity initiatives and other areas that ultimately impact student outcomes.

“There’s a lot of EEO and OEOC-type data,” Shannon said. “We have a whole department that does all of that reporting, so for them, it’s going to be amazing. They can pull it up and get the reports they need, which will help with compliance and reporting.”

With easy access to data, U of A has already identified veteran and disabled hiring as an area that needs more attention. “We have a 6 percent goal for our campus, and according to this data, we’re at 4 percent,” Shannon said. “That’s not something we had to spend time to figure out.”

And though U of A is a large institution, with more than 5,000 employees and nearly 30,000 students, Shannon believes smaller universities can also benefit from at-your-fingertips access to data analytics.

“Not every university has someone who can understand how to collect data and put it into a format that will be easily understood by upper leadership,” she said. “But this analytics module can produce a beautiful little report without all the legwork on the backend. Anyone can use and understand their data in Analytics.

“Being able to fit the system to your campus’ needs is so critical, and PeopleAdmin is constantly making updates to the system to give us more options and more customizability. It really does encompass higher education.”

Shannon works closely with PeopleAdmin’s development team to identify and test features that will further empower higher education HR. And she’s enjoying the experience.

“PeopleAdmin is awesome. They’re always thinking forward and trying to come up with solutions for us, and that’s something we greatly appreciate.”

Learn more about how the University of Arkansas uses Analytics and other tools to interpret data and inform decision-making by attending “Your SelectSuite data”, the session that Shannon’s co-presenting at PeopleConnect. Click here for more information on the conference.

SelectSuite improvements

A better look and feel, and other enhancements — definitely something to ‘chat’ about

“We use the chat feature frequently, and it’s wonderful! It has been so nice that our HR team can ask support simple questions using chat. It has saved me time!”

SelectSuite’s new user interface and updates have been live for about a month, and customers are overwhelmingly happy with the improvements to their system:

“Thanks to all for the systems refresh — it’s so much easier on the eyes!” said Lonnie Crotts, recruiter, North Carolina A&T University. “With the ease of viewing, I expect navigation for our campus users to improve as well. This is positive for PA7 on campus.”

“I prefer to use online chat for help with technological questions,” said Elaine Anderson, HR specialist, SUNY (State University of New York), Geneseo. “The person I chatted with this morning was very polite, professional and knowledgeable. I was very pleased with how my issue was solved.”

“I like the new look … and thanks to your team for listening and providing people like us with a test site,” said Chris Mullen, assistant director for recruitment and selection at Colorado State University.

Additionally, as part of the solution improvements, enhancements have been added to users’ systems over time, such as in-product chat.

“We finished rolling out in-product chat to all customers a few weeks ago,” said Robin Vandeveer, director of customer support. “This is a valuable and time-saving feature, and delivering it quickly was a priority. We’re thrilled with how readily they’ve begun using it to get the answers they need.”

“We use the chat feature frequently, and it’s wonderful!” said Shannon Phillips, compensation analyst at the University of Arkansas. “It has been so nice that our HR team can ask support simple questions using chat. It has saved me time!”

As part of another recent rollout, new social recruiting features enable SelectSuite users to seamlessly share job postings on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, directly from the applicant tracking solution.

Still to come are resume parsing enhancements for applicants and Analytics, the robust new reporting tool, which will roll out to groups of SelectSuite customers over the next several months at no cost.

FLSA exemption ruling: A balancing act for higher education

Technology plays a key role in implementing the change successfully

The new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exemption rules take effect Dec. 1, 2016. As universities and colleges across the U.S. develop their compliance strategies, they must consider the impact on financial resources and employee morale.

“Everyone dealing with these changes needs to be strategic and review all the options before making a decision,” said Caris Friberg, talent acquisition specialist at Gonzaga University.

Positions with teaching as the primary duty, as well as some administrative positions that directly support teaching, will not be affected. Where the rules will have significant impact is with other professional and support roles, particularly those that fall into the $23,660-47,746 salary range — many of which have historically been exempt from overtime.

“Handling these changes by routing certain things through our PeopleAdmin solution will be so much more efficient. I can’t even imagine how we would do this without technology.”

“Employees that support the teaching, research, clinical and service aspects of the institutional mission are sometimes implicitly pressured to get the job done regardless of how many hours it takes,” said Edward Wilson, Ph.D., PeopleAdmin’s strategic advisor for higher education and former HR director, faculty and student affairs director, and educator.

“This ruling will serve as a safety net to employees who are subjected to these expectations, which often are not aligned with their compensation,” he said.

While the rule is meant to serve the best interest of employees, Edward expects unintended consequences. “The pending exemption status changes, time-tracking and schedule modifications will certainly create a challenging climate to navigate, from a planning and execution perspective,” he said.

The FLSA ruling is complex and nuanced, but institutions will have several months to study the details and develop the best possible strategy.

Edward says institutions should immediately begin developing and articulating their communication plan to manage the change, while they concurrently develop strategies and tactics to ensure institutional compliance.

The right technology can help universities and colleges to execute those tactics and comply with FLSA regulations.

“Technology will play a huge role in implementing changes now that we have some clarity,” Caris said. “Handling these changes by routing certain things through our PeopleAdmin solution will be so much more efficient. I can’t even imagine how we would do this without technology.”

As institutions seek to better understand and work through the far-reaching effects of the pending FLSA changes, internal audits will prove to be an invaluable asset. By using position management technology, universities and colleges can run and compile reports on impacted employees — helping to determine options, minimize negative effects and maximize positive, strategic outcomes.

Contact your account executive to learn how position management technology can help you get ahead of FLSA changes and ensure your institution’s compliance.

What’s better than getting expert advice on higher education’s toughest challenges, networking with peers and learning tips that will prepare you for the upcoming academic year … all while having fun in Austin, Texas? Getting credit for it!

Among PeopleConnect’s many breakout sessions are 10 courses pre-approved for one HRCI certification credit hour. Add that to the highly anticipated keynote address by Andy Brantley, president & CEO of CUPA-HR, and you have a conference you don’t want to miss!

Andy will speak on the all-important topic of succession development.

“I’ve had the opportunity to attend the last two Southern Region CUPA conferences, and Andy was there,” said Michelle Morris, director of employment and clinical support services at East Carolina University. “He’s a very dynamic speaker. The way Andy delivers things makes me want to listen to him, so I was very excited when I saw him on the PeopleConnect agenda.”

You can also win recognition for your college or university by nominating your institution for a PeopleConnect Award. Or, celebrate higher education’s collective great work at the PeopleConnect customer celebration … with live music from one of Austin’s best bands.

Special pricing for PeopleConnect 2016 ends June 12. Institutions that register three or more attendees will save an additional $50 on each.

Q&A with Nancy Aebersold, HERC Founder and Executive Director

Nancy Aebersold, founder and executive director of the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), spoke about the state of diversity hiring in higher education in the last edition of Connections.

This month, Nancy explores how strategic partnerships can help overcome diversity challenges and offers insights on how technology can empower diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the future.

Q: How does HERC help its members find diverse faculty when demand for these candidates outweighs supply?

A: HERC works on both sides of the DEI equation. On the supply side, we conduct strategic outreach throughout the year to undergraduates, doctoral students, postdocs and faculty at all career stages and invite them to use our website throughout their careers. Much of our outreach is geared toward traditionally underrepresented populations and fields in which the greatest diversity disparities exist — such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine. Additionally, to address Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) requirements, HERC has increased its outreach activities to veterans and individuals with disabilities to ensure that our member institutions that do business with the federal government are reaching these important populations.

The HERC website is designed to encourage higher education career exploration, provide career-building tools and offer transparent access to over 25,000 job opportunities at more than 700 member campuses. Through these efforts, HERC has built a highly qualified and diverse candidate pool of higher education professionals with 100,000 registered users and 200,000 monthly visitors to the site. We track the demographics of our registered users and consistently outpace national averages in terms of the diversity and education levels of our user population. HERC’s member institutions benefit because their jobs are made more visible to the candidates they seek most to attract.

On the institutional climate side of the equation, HERC members comprise an engaged community of over 5,000 higher education human resources, faculty affairs and diversity professionals who benefit from the tools, resources and learning opportunities HERC provides to help foster the systemic changes needed to create diverse, inclusive and equitable work and learning places. HERC members gather regularly at regional member conferences to share institutional best practices; learn from leading practitioners, authors and

thinkers; and engage in discussions about the most pressing matters impacting recruiting, developing, advancing and retaining the most diverse and qualified workforce. Nationally, HERC hosts a member webinar series that features the foremost leaders in advancing DEI in the higher education workplace. Webinars are free to member representatives and all employees at their institutions. Many of our webinars focus on real-life, concrete changes that individuals and institutions can practice that have been proven to make a difference.

Q: How does HERC’s partnership with PeopleAdmin benefit members?

A: We enhanced our partnership this year between HERC, PeopleAdmin and DirectEmployers Association to assist higher education institutions in sourcing more qualified, diverse candidates. This partnership makes it easier for HERC member colleges and universities using SelectSuite to perform inclusive searches focused on attracting candidates that more accurately reflect the diversity of the student population.

This free enhancement was made available to institutions in April, and many have seen their position announcements reach dozens of new, previously under-represented talent pools via targeted job board sites such as Diversity.jobs, Easter Seals, The Veterans Employment Center, Deaf to Work, and many more. This enhancement automatically took effect for HERC members using SelectSuite who have selected to post job announcements to the HERC job board.

As a nonprofit consortium that is guided by a strategic vision to promote equity and excellence in higher education recruitment and retention we, at HERC, deeply value the support of partners like PeopleAdmin who help make it possible for us to have an even greater impact.

Q: Looking ahead, what greater role can technology play in diversity, equity and inclusion?

A: Technology plays an essential role in all aspects of higher education workforce management and empowers employers to reach, recruit, develop and advance the most diverse and qualified faculty, staff and senior executives.

Because PeopleAdmin provides higher education clients with both a platform for candidates to use when applying for job openings and talent management tools for HR staff, search committee members and employees, one key area that will need continuous attention is software accessibility. With 15 percent of the world’s population living with some form of disability — according to 2014 data from the World Health Organization — it is imperative that talent management technologies are accessible to candidates and employees with auditory, physical, speech, cognitive and/or neurological disabilities. Being cognizant of the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and designing software is an essential component to ensuring an inclusive search process and workplace.

Higher education employers, particularly those that are federal contractors and subcontractors subject to OFCCP reviews, need accurate applicant data. These include verifiable data about candidate referral sources, aggregated demographic reports by requisition or job title, and a method for tracking and reporting on the stage that each candidate reaches in a search.

Compiling, tracking, and reporting on faculty via paper processes is never ideal. But for many institutions, it feels like the only option for institutions. Going digital is a process and requires planning and effort. The long-term benefit though is a simplified entry point, a self-sufficient system, API integrations and a simple and accessible platform for all parties from IT to faculty and staff.

It was wonderful to host and connect with our customers at PeopleConnect 2019. If you joined us in Austin, thank you! If you missed the conference, we had a great three days with 250 higher education peers who came together to learn, network, and share new and exciting opportunities to advance the missions of research, teaching, and service. They made our annual customer event a huge success!

Advancing the higher education ecosystem is a challenge faced by administrators and educators all over the world. Higher education institutions today are responsible for many critical outcomes. In addition to student success, there is a renewed focus on the recruitment and retention of faculty, as well as the setup and administration of organizational systems powering human capital management.
These pressures in higher education create dysfunctional systems and processes causing a mission gap and lack of alignment among teams, leadership, and the overall institution.